Is moving back to India a good decision?

[subhi_sumi]

Hello Friends

I decided to present my case in this forum to seek your opinions. We have been thinking of moving back to India for a long time now and we nailed next year 2012 for the move. There is no big driver for our move back except that we need to take care of our parents and since our daughter is already 6, it might be easier to move now rather than later. I am finance professions (CPA) and spouse is an engineer. We have one house in the US (mortgage paid monthly - will breakeven if let out) and one owned house in India. The owned house will be occupied by inlaws. Spouse can apply for transfer through company and I will need to look for a job. We have two kids - 6 and 2. They will start school year mid 2012 onwards if we move. We like the comforts, school and independence that is offered here. However since medical is a big issue and we cannot afford to bring parents here. We can move only to Hyderabad and heard that there will be frequent powercuts and very hot weather. We dont speak hindi / telugu. The perk is we will be around our parents. Will we able to survive India and are we doing the right decision?

[sansar11]

Hi,

Whether moving back to India is a good decision or not is a personal question which will vary from person to person. Whether its good or not only time can tell. And what is good for me might not be for you and vice versa. We are returning to Hyderabad by end of July/early aug with 2 kids 11 and 6. For our 11 yr old if we delay any further might be harder for him to adjust. Staying here for this long one gets used to the lifestyle and material comforts one gets. But like you, we wanted to always return, could never see ourselves settled here and wanted to be closer to family. Whether we are doing right or wrong, only time will tell. From what I have read on this forum and heard from many, r2i requires a certain state of mind and attitude and only then will be it fulfulling/successful. Your kids are young so adjusting would be much easier for them. I have had friends moving since a couple of years and they have been doing fine in India. It will take around a year to adapt yourself, but then it should be fine. Even when we have completely decided and ready to r2i still such thoughts do crop up as to whether we are doing the right thing or not. But one can never know for sure unless one tries. So in my opinion in r2i some things should be left to fate and go with your guts, and if our intent is positive, everything will work out. After all we are going to our homeland, it might take us a while to settle down, but ultimately we will. Good luck!

[okonomi]

OP, you didnt say what your immigrant status is in the USA. I am biased toward getting better lives for the daughters. So I'd recommend staying put in the USA, if your immigrant status would allow that. If not, well...then...you'd then have only one option...wouldn't you ?

#4: Thanks for the update. Being USC has its own wrinkles.. Good luck

[subhi_sumi]

Thanks for your response. I am an US citizen.

[VS007]

r2i requires a certain state of mind and attitude and only then will be it fulfulling/successful.

Most poignant observation!!!
Coming to India for 3 weeks vacation and evaluating R2I based upon those three weeks alone is a big folly even if one tries to remove the vacation mindset and gets immersed into day to day local life routine.

Ofcourse mind adapts very quickly and you can forget US in matter of few weeks if not days. The question do you really want to let go of the comfort and leisurely way of life? It could be as minor as going to malls in India which can be stressful with the traffic, blaring horns and noise and heavy loudspeakers not outside, but even inside the mall. Can give you a headache. Comparatively even going to office in US can be a walk in the park.

You better have a strong reason and will to work/fight it out in India.

[M V]

... We have one house in the US (mortgage paid monthly - will breakeven if let out) and one owned house in India. The owned house will be occupied by inlaws. [/quote]
Whose in-laws? His or hers? :)

[quote]...We like the comforts, school and independence that is offered here. [/quote]
What is the definition of 'independence'? Not dependent on maid-servants & driver or non-interference from relatives? :)

[quote] ...Will we able to survive India and are we doing the right decision?

Going by the "there is no big driver for our move except...", looks like you won't be able to survive India.

A member who r2i'ed once said there needs to be a strong reason for a successful r2i, a very strong reason, which will serve as a beacon when the r2i ship hits rocky waters.

P.S. Questions in post are mostly rhetorical...

[back2desh]

My personal opinion on this topic is this, first you need to set-up your mind whether to R2I or not, discuss with your wife in detail on the PROS and CONS of R2I and LIA (Living in America). After that you should start visiting this forum on your planning and execution (after you have decided to R2I), if not convinced of R2I then visiting this forum will not help you as folks who have R2Ied normally do not visit this forum that often (I put my name on the top as well), there are very few who do regularly visit this forum post R2I.

If you ask about R2I to N number of people it is very likely that X% will say to go with R2I (whose R2I is successful), where as (100-X%) will oppose to that probably because they have not thought about it, scared to plan for R2I or did R2I and it failed. So, ultimately you need to go by your instinct. R2I decision is very personal and you cannot compare with someone else to see if you should do R2I or not.

In my case I went with the detailed analysis of PROS and CONS of R2I and LIA with my Wife and once I decided to R2I joined this forum and took very valuable positive advices from fellow forum members and it's been 1 year since my move to India and so far I have been enjoying like anything in-spite of bunch of problems that you may face here in India (for that matter problem is everywhere be it in India, US or Canada, we all at some point felt some discomfort in US that's why decided to R2I :) ). From my point of view my R2I is successful so far and the longer you stay and get adjusted with India, your own country, the sooner you will start liking it. Yes I do sometimes think about the luxury, comforts, nice roads, cleanness, independence in US however something else happens to me here in India that completely overrides the thoughts of going back there :), well this is my experience....

An example... My kids are out of bangalore in my close family friend's place for the whole summer vacation (in a small town) and they are just enjoying it everyday of their vacation, they don't even think about me :) and I don't have to worry about them even in a single day, can this type of opportunity you will get in US? I bet no... even for a day or few hours if your kids are away from you, you will start worrying about them and 1000 doubtful questions will come to your mind... well back here in India at-least you don't have this. This I call it the independence we have here in India... There in US we get the independence where as kids have none where as in India both us and kids get independence....

Thanks for your response. I am an US citizen.

[cabo]

Hello Friends

I decided to present my case in this forum to seek your opinions. We have been thinking of moving back to India for a long time now and we nailed next year 2012 for the move. There is no big driver for our move back except that we need to take care of our parents and since our daughter is already 6, it might be easier to move now rather than later. I am finance professions (CPA) and spouse is an engineer. We have one house in the US (mortgage paid monthly - will breakeven if let out) and one owned house in India. The owned house will be occupied by inlaws. Spouse can apply for transfer through company and I will need to look for a job. We have two kids - 6 and 2. They will start school year mid 2012 onwards if we move. We like the comforts, school and independence that is offered here. However since medical is a big issue and we cannot afford to bring parents here. We can move only to Hyderabad and heard that there will be frequent powercuts and very hot weather. We dont speak hindi / telugu. The perk is we will be around our parents. Will we able to survive India and are we doing the right decision?

As a relatively long time r2I er- my observations about the success/satisfaction with R2I- depends on two main factors. I am assuming that you are wired to Living in India and appreciate what India has to offer- to return in the first place.

1. if you need to work for a living- paycheck and work hours in proportion to the pay check is very important. if you are in a field which is low paying in India or if you will take a huge pay cut in India- i can guarantee you will be very unhappy in India. You might want to research CPA- opportunities and average pay .

An example in my field- an average, fresh out of residency internist with no specialisation- working 36-40 hours a week- makes around 250K. An experienced, "succesful" consultant Internist in India- on call for two/three nights a week- working 60 plus hours a week makes around 10-15 lacs per year.

2. getting along with inlaws- is important. If you don't, living seperately will not help either.

The other irritants like power cuts and traffic can be managed if the first two fall in place. The romantic notion of extended family- uncles/aunts/cousins being there for you/ meeting often- will soon disappear- either because everybody is too busy or because your perception about them has changed after living in India in close proximity with them.

[M V]

...2. getting along with inlaws- is important. If you don't, living seperately will not help either. ...

True. More so, if "The owned house will be occupied by inlaws".

[r2i_sammy]

Whenever I am in such a position, I ask to myself... Is moving back to home a good decision? ... and I get my answer right away. Go ahead and try it out, somethings are better experienced in real life than just sitting and contemplating with a bunch of "what is" questions.